What a difference a Sunny Day makes

First, the weather report.
The sun has come out and it has been fabulous. There are frosts in the morning but the sun is shining. It makes such a difference when you are in an apartment and you do not have to deal with a dirty, wet and smelly big dog. 
The countryside is delightful. Birds are chirping and I can see where I am going. I have views!!
And of course the shepherding part of this story is so much easier in the sun. Bucolic in fact.
I believe the rain comes again next week but all the sheep will be in the barn, after the shearing is finished, so I will be working inside. 

Second, Kermit
Let me tell you folks. I LOVE Kermit. He is such a joy. He is like the little Fiat Bambinos of the 70s when I was in Italy for 6 months.
So when I drive him I am in my own emotional time warp.
He IS green and I love him for it. There is only one downside to this. I drive locally several times a day and he is noticeable. And my driving, between a wandering mind and a wandering pace (unbelievable I hear you say), means that I may be noted. And easily traced🚗🚙🚚🚛🚜🚜🚐🚌🚴🚲passing Kermit   

My favourite picture of Kermit. It makes me laugh. He is smaller than Georg's trailer!

Kermit has grunt!

Third, Shearing




We had a great day Saturday. The sheep currently in the barn were all shorn. Next week we shear those out in the field.
Two local men came to shear and friends and family came to help.
The men handling the sheep had the hardest time as the ewes are as heavy as my wether Dorpers were. About 60 kilo I guess. And the Rams (5) are HUGE. Twice that weight. 
No dogs were used. Just human ingenuity. As different stalls were brought forward for shearing the lambs were separated out and the ewes pushed forward to the shearers. As you can imagine the noise level was fairly high and consistent.
All the panels of the stalls are movable so the size, position etc of the different stalls changed according to where the shearing was at. Like a chess board in fact.
For those of you with sheep, it is not so different from how you would probably organise it at home. You make do with what you have.
The only thing that surprised me was that they do not class the wool. It is bagged and sold as it comes off the sheep.
All the ewes were also vaccinated just before shearing. As these sheep are used to being handled there was not so much stress for them but some were stubborn and resistant so the poor human was forced to hang on!!
Like all sheep after shearing they were indignant and felt foolish🐏🐑🐑 as they scurried away.

I shall post this, as it is more than enough for one read. But I have to tell you how the dog is going. The dog is great. Photos and words coming.